GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

The Digital Games That Militaries Play

Jan 8, 2018 | 09:00 GMT

Digital games have exploded in popularity, and militaries around the world have taken notice.

Kids who grew up playing video games fill the ranks of militaries around the world, influencing the equipment and tactics that are used.

(funstock/iStock)

The global video gaming population grew to an estimated 2.2 billion people in 2017. This included around 64 percent of Americans. Given this level of participation, I perhaps shouldn’t have been surprised that the industry in 2017 generated some $149 billion in revenue. And all the forecasts show that these numbers will continue to grow in the coming years. The demand for competitive gaming -- popularly known as "eSports" -- seems particularly remarkable to me. According to a recent report, the revenue generated by that sector grew by some 41.3 percent over the last year. And people are interested in watching these events. Some 194 million individuals did so in 2017; by 2020, an additional 100 million are expected to join them. The explosion in digital gaming has been accompanied by military interest in similar technologies, which have been deployed in battlefields around the world....

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